hey, what do you all think of spray painting your truck? i mean, with the new specialized car paints that come in a apray can, not Mr. Krylon's stuff. have any of you done this with any kind of paint? i was just wondering, because my pickup sure could sue a coat of paint and im really not in the position to be paying 1,000 for one!
Mike S.
1979 F-100
all original except CD player, new speakers and a CB

 

Well, I haven't seen it yet, but I am sure each can has a nice price tag to go along with it! - And if you think about how many cans it will take to paint a truck, plus primer, you could very well end up with a $1000 paint job.

What about a clearcoat? Do they make it also?

I think the idea might be good for motorcycles, 4-wheelers, and bicycles, but I would hate to have to do a car...

 

Yeah, there is canned clearcoat, i've never seen it used though, might need to expeirement with it.

 

Unless its improved, I used the clear coat a few years ago on our first race car. Looked real good on the black, but on the white & neon green it yellowed a little - only reason I noticed was because I was always having to do touch-up's.

As for painting with spray cans - that gets real expensive. If you're gonna spray it yourself anyway, you can get the paint real reasonable pending on the brand and if you go epoxy or bc/cc and the spray guns aren't that expensive. As for the compressor, you have to know someone that has one.

Anyway you decide to go about it, use a mask and cover the skin.

 

There is just too much metal on a truck to paint out of a can. Just had mine repainted and the painter said that he had forgotten how much work and paint went into a truck even with a flat bed. Course mine is a crewcab and that meant more metal yet!!!!

Remuda

 

hey,
thanks for all the info:-) the reason i was askin about the do-it-yourself type spray painting was because i just read an article on it in Peterson's 4-Wheel drive magazine,a nd was wondering if it worked. i guess maybe its just better to go with a professional job then? i do have quite a few friends with spray guns and compressors though, all those truckers and farmers have them . but i know precisely jack squat about running them, so what do you all think? thanks again.
Mike S.
1979 F-100

 

Two summers ago I repainted parts of my Aerostar - sliding door, both front fenders and the rear quarter panels. It took about 4 cans of primer, 10 cans of blue metallic and 3 cans of clearcoat. It cost me about $120.00 canadian for it vs the $2000 the body shop was asking. It was well worth the money and I must say, the van is looking really nice with no blistering (and that's surviving 2 canadian winters). Spray bomb has come a long way and if you put enough on without causing it to run, you can later wetsand it with 1200-2000 grit paper to remove any orange-peel or dirt.

 

I've actually done cars out of a can, and actually am peforming this operation on a 1966 ford f-250 via the same technique. My results have been quite decent. The truck however is presently offline, and the repaint is a slow spare time project.

Actually did this on a large van, paint out of a can actually. it's still painted, and looks very decent presently, not an exact factory color match, but hey, the paint was pealing off and it was a solution.

I'm sure the end cost was well into the $200 range. about $4.00 a can, 16 cans of primer / sealer / enamal, approxmate, did it over a long period of time.

This isn't my field by any means, but in my case I don't have a compressor, nor can I afford one presently. for roughly $20 though, I can paint a segment, and protect the removed rust. Ok, a fender sided segment. (self etching primer, primer sealer, two cans of enamal). To be honest, it is on my things to get in the future.

for larger segments, like the cab, the parts you can't quite fit in the garage, you will always be most frustrated with particular matter / flying insects that are automatcly attracted to your new paint. Just today I was priming the wiper grill area, and just as soon as I was done a bee decided it would be a perfectly happy spot to land, and not only land, but land, crawl, fall, crawl, fall, walk.

There are those who belive that properly prepaired enamal can accept a new layer of paint, and this is could be true.

I would agree there is no replacement for a quality air gun and decent paint, but hey... i'd rather there be a coat of paint then ye old scratched up and rusting look.

>hey,
>thanks for all the info:-) the reason i was askin about the
>do-it-yourself type spray painting was because i just read
>an article on it in Peterson's 4-Wheel drive magazine,a nd
>was wondering if it worked. i guess maybe its just better to
>go with a professional job then? i do have quite a few
>friends with spray guns and compressors though, all those
>truckers and farmers have them . but i know precisely jack
>squat about running them, so what do you all think? thanks
>again.
>Mike S.
>1979 F-100

 

[updated:LAST EDITED ON 30-Apr-02 AT 03:53 PM (EST)]I agree with ya zukezake. I just got done "rattle canning" my bumpers and rims on my 78. Looks 100% better than the surface rust that was there before. A little tape-off time and 10 bucks can do wonders for looks......if I have to do it every year or every other so be it.....

 

For small areas spray cans work great, but If your going to paint the whole truck I would rent an HVLP ( high Volume low pressure) Paint sprayer, with some practice you can get these to spray a very nice finish. You dont need an air compressor or anything. and it would be alot faster and cheaper in the end.

Just my thoughts on the subject, I used to work in a repair depot fixing paint sprayers.

Good Luck,

Joe

 

>For small areas spray cans work great, but If your going to
>paint the whole truck I would rent an HVLP ( high Volume low
>pressure) Paint sprayer, with some practice you can get
>these to spray a very nice finish. You dont need an air
>compressor or anything. and it would be alot faster and
>cheaper in the end.
>
>Just my thoughts on the subject, I used to work in a repair
>depot fixing paint sprayers.

Actually i've really enjoyed great luck with rattle cans actually, all the way up to the size of a van. Now granted, now i'm presently on my third vehicle re-paint, moving up in size from compact station wagon, large conversation van, next being truck, I really could use a compressor at this point. If I need to do this again, i'm going to buy one. I actually had one but someone dumped a garage door on it, destroying it before I could implement it.

My complaint about renting a compressor is my schedual is not stable, and rattle cans provide that flexablility for the passive project, 2 hours here, a couple hours here, the oh now it's starting to rain can't continue painting here, etc... etc..